Cleaning Up After Your Pet

Uh oh! Did your dog pee all over your rug? Or worse -- your cat? (I think cat urine is one of the foulest smells known to man, and my naughty but adorable little cat is who inspired today's post)

There are ways to get rid of those awful smells, but you've got to act fast before the smell gets worse!

These tips should work for both dogs and cats, and will help with any type of pet odor from urine to vomit. And all you need is vinegar and water!

Removing pet stains from carpet:

First things first, mix white vinegar and water and put it in a spray bottle. Spray the area and blot it dry. Next, sprinkle baking soda on the spot and let the baking soda sit over night. Vacuum it up the next day. You might also want to point a fan towards the stain to help it dry.

Removing pet stains from linoleum or hardwood floors:

Mop with a 3:1 warm water and vinegar solution.

DON'T use ammonia to clean a urine stain. Urine smells too much like ammonia, so it might make your pet think that it's an acceptable place to urinate.

The bonus of using vinegar is that dogs often don't like the scent of vinegar, so it can keep them away from that area of your house.

Want to keep cats away from a particular area of the house?

They don't like citrus. You can use citrus peels or citrus sprays to repel them from that couch that they shed all over. This could also work to keep the neighborhood cats out of your flower bed! I've also read that some dogs aren't fond of citrus, but I don't currently have a dog, so I haven't been able to try this out.